Photography allows me to engage with people in deep and intimate ways. No one is a stranger. When I look through the lens, I see the wonder of each individual, of each moment. Barriers break down and time no longer exists. The photos themselves are not important; it is all about that split second when my subject and I become one. Even self portraits can connect us to ourselves.

Digital and iPhone photography suit my intuitive nature. I cannot stop to think about the process or even the product, but must be free to shoot as unselfconsciously as I breathe. Of course, it helps that I studied art in college and was a painter for 30 years before picking up a camera. The fundamentals of composition, form, value and color are encoded in my creative DNA, while the technical aspects of photography will always be a mystery.